Suspension



2 Sheets-Sheet. 2

H.. A. KNOX SUSPENSION Filed March 27, 1942 June 29, 1943.

24 20 22 zz/szz. 24'

-.uNrrED-sTA'-rss' Pmlalarlorries i i 2.32am' suspension nam A. xnox,wuhinsion, D. c.- vai'iinionuon Muon' zi, im, soi-inl No. nasse sclaims. (ci. :s1-zo) (arenas "rns invention-described herein may bemonufactured and used by or for the Government for governmentalpurposes. without the payment to meoianyroyalty thereon. l 22, 22' thatpass through and engage recesses This invention relates to a suspensionfor a 5 Ila, Ila in the ends of shafts or axles Il. Il.` vehicle. 1 Pins22, 22' `are held from sliding through holes an obieot of this inventionis to provide n tvvileel suspensioni'or use 'on track laying veles.

axle Il and wheel axle I2 and with volute spring I'I-between wheel axleII and wheel axle Il.

The wheel suspension proper is mounted on the two oppoeitely disposedframe members, Il, Il rigidly depending from the vehicle body (not I"tion, each under the act of March S, 1883, as

April 30, 1028; 37e 0. G. '157) shown) Opposite ends of supporting axlesIl, Il are held fast in the end bearing members 2l,

2i by means of cylindrical body portions o! pins in their correspondingbearing members 2l, 2| due to the heads on pins 22, 22. The bearingmember 2l is provided with the inverted U- Another object of thisinventionis to provide l shaped flange 20a in which there are clearancea wheel suspension similar to the wheel suspen` `recesses 20h for thepassage of pins 22 in assemsions described and claimed in my copendingbly and through which bolts 24 or other similar applications, Serial No.399,661, nled June 25, means pass in order to rigidly connect the end1941, and Serial No. 423,888. nled December 22, bearing member 22 to theframe member I9. 1941. But in this instance the wheel suspensionvPreferably the bearing member 4III. frame memis adapted to carrygreater loads eflicientiy and ber I9 and ilange 22a are disposed anddimenyet be of la simple and compact nature. A simisioned such that theouter surface of frame lar suspension is also shown in 4my copendingapmember II is flush withthe corresponding outer plicatiomerialNo.4'25,'11'l illedjanuary, 1942. surface of the bearing member 20 asseen in Another object of this invention is to provide Fig. 3 and framemember I9 serves to retain pin means for pivotally mounting a pluralityof wheel 22 in locking position. Y axles on a common supporting member.Fastening pin 22' is provided with a head which Another object or thisinvention is to provide iS inseltble in @Operating bearing member reanimproved bearing in a wheel suspension. cess 2Ia; and, frame member I3is positioned The specific nature of the invention as well 25 over thehead of pin 22' whereby pin 22' is mainas other objects and advantagesthereof will, tained in position. clearly gppesifrom d description of s,preferred Bearing member 2l is fastened to vehicle vertiembodimeni; d;shown in the accompanying drawcal frame member I8 and horizontal vehicleframe .ings in which; i l member 2l by providing the bearing member 2|Figure 1 discloses a side elevation 0f a gus- 30 with vertical flange2lb lalld horizontal flange pension inciuding' the preferred'embodimentof 2Ic, and then sandwiching the frame members my invention, Il, 2lbetween corresponding flange members and Figure 2 is a longitudinalsection taken subcorresponding elements, 20a, 2lb of angle iron 22stantialiy on the line 2-2 of Figure 3. by means similar to bolts 21,2l.

Figure 3 is an end elevation of the suspension 35 Each one of the wheelsW1, Wn, Ws, W4, is sup- Sllow in Figure 1. i ported 0n its Wheel axleI0, Il, l2, Il, respectively, Figure 4 is a plan view ofthe suspensionshown which is held by and pivotelly mounted on corin `ll'igure 1 andincludes a section taken subresponding shafts or axles I4. I5, `by meansof stantially on the line 4-4 of Figure 1. pivotabie arms orSlJll'DOrtsA B1, B2, Bs, B4: only Figure 5 is a side elevation of amodiiled rub- 40 one of the pivotable supports or arms B1 is deberhushed connection between a spring seat and scribed, but it isunderstood that the other three one ofthe pivotable arms shown inFigures 1-4, pivotable supports or arms B2, B3, B4 are of simiandlardesign and the component parts thereof have Figure 6 is a section ofa modified rubber the same reference numerals with corresponding hushedconnection taken substantially on the subscripts. line a... f Figure 5,Pivotable support or arm Bi comprises two tri- The purpose of thevarrangementl disclosed hereangular shaped arms lli, 3i i extendingmutually in is to pivotally mount wheel axles Il, II, and parallel withaxial hollow portions 281. 2li, 1. wheel axles I2, Il about shafts oraxles Il, Il at the corner of each triangle for the reception ofrespectively with volute spring It between-wheel transversely extendingconnecting members comprising: wheel shaft III, axle Il, and hardenedcontact pin or rod 221.

Although arms 2li, Ih are each made in one piece, for the purpose ofanalysis of my invenof those arms is equivalent to a struc- 301, 3`I1are joined by an integrally formed transversely extending brace 351(Fig. 2) having a hardened contact barl 301 mounted thereon by meanssimilar to pins 311 for a purpose to be del scribedlater.

The hardened contact pin or rod 321 is held in the oppositely disposedhollow portions 401-401 of arm B1 in such a manner so as to permitrotational movement of pin or rod 321y and yet prevent its axialmovement. For this purpose the hollow portions 401-401 are made somewhatelliptical in cross section as seen in Fig. 1 and the body portions ofscrew threaded bolts` 4I1-4I1 yextend into circumferential grooves421-421 in the contact rod 321. When the contact rod 321 is assembled onthe pivotable support B1 contact bar holding pins 311 are prevented frombecoming disengaged, thus securing the position 'of hardened contact bar361.

Ihe two volute springs I6, I1, are held solely by their correspondingaxially disposedf spring seats 42, 43 and 44, 45, respectively, in amanner described in my last two mentioned copending applications.Specifically, spring seat 42 (similar spring seat 44) ange 42a (Fig. 1)`which partially encircles the outer circumference of volute spring I 6;spring seat 43 (similar spring seat 45) has a cylindrical projection43a,insertab1e in the hollow portion of the spring I 6 at the smallerdiameter end and is provided with a transversely extending portion 43hadapted to abut the spring at its smaller diameter end.

The outer surface of spring seats 42, 43 is provided with a channel 42e,43c wherein hardened contact bars 461,- 46a ,are held by means similarto pins 411, 41a and whereon contact rods 321. 323, respectively, abut.

It is thus seen that by disposing hardened contact bars 361, 461 andcontact pin or rod 321 in the manner described above a rugged, oil freebearing is provided and this bearing is characterized by the two linecontacts between the hardened contact rod or pin and oppositely disposedhardened contact bars. 'These replaceable hardened `contact bars 361,461 have a plane bearing surface and the contact pin or rod 321 iscylindrical.

When loads on the suspension are applied and released the contact rod321 rotates and a line contact is made continuously along not onedefinite line on the contact rod but many different lines with theresult that wear of the contact pin or rod 321 is distributed and` thusthe cylindrical cross section of the contact rod tends to be maintained.

It is apparent that the wheels W1, W2, Wa, W4 may be assembled on theirrespective axles by one skilled in they art; accordingly, no means fordoing this is disclosed.

It is also apparent that stops may be provided for limiting the relativemovement of the wheels W1, W2, Wa, W4 with respect to the veis providedwith a 1 hiel/e frame'members I8, I9 and that the volute springs may beprestressed by using expedients similar to those described in my Ilasttwo mentioned copending .applications whereby definite contact betweencontact rods and/corresponding vcontact bars is assured. Also, thepivotable support B1 may be mounted on axle I4 by means of a-lubricatedconnection and to the spring seat 42 by means of a lubricated connectionas disclosed in my above mentioned copending application, SerialNo.1423,888.

Figs. 5 and 6 disclose la rubber bushed bearing which may be substitutedfor the line contact bearing shown in Figs. 1'-4. With such asubstitution each` individual wheel support or arm B1, B2, B3 or B4 hastwo rubber bushed bear` ings which are stressed when that particular.support moves relative to ythe frame. The spring seat 42 similar toseat 42 shown in the previous Figures 1-4 has its qutersurface modifiedsuch that a tube I 00 is formed integral therewith by welding, brazing,casting; or other similar means and with theaxis oi thetube extendingparallel to the same axis as did contact pin or rod 321 inthe previousfigures. Alrubber bushing IOI adapted to withstand compression andparticularly torsion resiliently separates shaft |02 from the inner wallof tube |00 throughout its length.

Triangular shaped arms 301', 3I1' similar'to arms 301, 3I1 of theprevious gures have their upper corners modified as indicated in Figs. 5and 6.

A U-clamp I03 is provided and formed integral-l with the upper ends oftriangular shaped members 301', 3| 1. The parallel legs of the U-clampI03 are so spaced and the inner curvature between the parallel legs is-such that the ends of shaft |02 (Fig. 5) are snugly received in theclamps. A bolt I04 passing through one leg of the U and passing throughgroove 1 |05 in the shaft end and screw threadedlyI engaging the otherleg of the U serves to lock shaft I 02 to` support B1' which is similarto support B1 in the previous figures.

The spring seats disclosed in the drawings are of a channel or U-shapedcross section and a replaceable hardened bar abuts the inner horizontalsurface of the U-shaped member; it is understood however that the innerhorizontal surface of the U-shaped member may be surface hardened byflame hardening or induction heating and a suitable spring seat bearingsurface may be thus obtained.

I claim:

1. A vehicle suspension embodying a pair of arms pivoted about parallelaxes and adapted to hold a wheel axlevon their free ends. each of saidarms having an extension which comprises a second arm, a spring havingtwo relatively movable ends, a movable seat for each of said spring endsand havingan external plane bearing surface, a plane bearing surface onthe free end of said second arm, a cylindrical member mounted on thefree end of each of said second mentioned arms and coacting with thefirst and second mentioned plane bearing surfaces.

2. A vehicle suspension embodying a pair of arms pivoted about'parallelaxes and adapted to drical member rotatably mounted at the free ends ofthe second mentioned arms and coacting with the iirst and secondmentioned plane bearing surfaces.

3. A vehicle suspension embodying a pair of arms pivoted about parallelaxes and adapted to hold a wheel axle on their free ends, each of saidarms having an extension which comprises a second arm, a volute springhaving two movable ends, a movable seat for one of the spring ends andhaving an external plane bearing surface, flanges on said seat andpartially encircling the spring, a second movable seat for said springand having an external plane bearing surface and an extension on thesurface adjacent Ythe spring projecting within the center of the volutespring, each of said second mentioned arms having a plane bearingsurface 0n the free end thereof, and a cylindrical member carried byeach of said arms and disposed between the piane bearing surfaces on thefree ends of the second mentioned arms and adjacent plane bearingsurfaces on the free ends of adjacent spring seats.

4. lIn a vehicle suspension, two spaced parallel shafts, a pair o f armspivotedabout each one of the spaced parallel shafts and adapted to holda wheel axle on their free ends, a tubular member joining the arms whichcomprise a pair. said tubular member being concentrically 1 mounted 1 onthe corresponding shaft, bearing material disposed between and spacingeach tubular member and its shaft, each of said arms having an Aextension which comprises a second arm, a resilient member having twomovable ends, a movablel seat for one end of the resilient members, amovable seat for the other end of the resilient member, and meanscomprising a rubber bushing connection for joining the free end of eachsecond mentioned arm to the adjacent movable seat.

5. 1n a vehicle suspension, two spaced parallel shafts, means forholding the shafts stationary and in spaced relationship, a tubularmember concentrically mounted on each shaft, resilient material disposedbetween and spacing each shaft rial extending continuously andsubstantially the entire length of the tubular member, an extension onthe tubular member and adapted to hold a wheel axle on its free end, anarm extending from each tubular member and having a free end, aresilient member having two movable ends and disposed with said endsadjacent the free ends of the arms, and a rubber bushing connection forcoupling adjacent free ends of the armsA and adjacent ends of theresilient member.

6. A vehicle suspension embodying an arm pivoted about an axis andadapted to hold a. wheel axle on its free end, a second arm rigidlycon-s nected to said arm and pivoted about the same axis, a springhaving two ends, means forcoupling one of the spring ends to the vehiclebody. a movable seat for the other spring end, said movable seat havinga portion with a U-shaped cross section, a hardened bar abutting theinner surface of the horizontal portion of the U-shaped spring seat,said second arm having a hardened contact bar mounted thereon, ahardened pin mounted on said second arm and disposed between the firstand second mentioned contact bars.

'7. A vehicle suspension embodying an arm pivoted about an axis andadapted to hold a wheel axle on its free end, a second arm rigidlyconnected to saidl arm and pivoted about the `same axis, a spring havingtwo ends, means for cou-` pling one of the spring ends to the vehicleb'ody, a'. movable seat for the other spring end, said movable seathaving a portion with a U-shaped cross section, said movable' seathaving the inner surface of the horizontalportion of the U hard ened,said second arm having a hardened contact surface, and ahardened pinmounted on the free end of said second arm and contacting the first andsecond mentioned hardened surfaces.

8. The same as in claimt' and means for rotatably mounting said hardenedpin on the free end of said second arm.

` HeRRY A. KNOX.

and its concentric member, said resilient mate-

